A/n: wow, I would like to thank my reviewers! You make me feel so happy, but I need more reviews for this chapter. They're my motivation to make write faster (hint, hint) . Sorry about taking so long to update
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight
Enjoy.
Conversations
I got back at around mid-afternoon on Sunday. Just an hour or two from sunset. The perfect time to relax. I dropped my bag by the couch, and I sat on the floor with my knees to my chin facing the glass wall. I wasn't really looking out; I was playing back the last hour.
I thought about every little detail. Walking through the door, greeting everyone, well greeting wouldn't actually be the word. More like exuberantly rejoined. I hugged everyone, and maybe Alice and Esme five times. Carlisle told me he wanted to talk when I was ready, though, I'm not sure I'll ever be truly ready. Not just about the talk, but tomorrow even. I don't know if I could be able to handle being so close to her, and appear normal at the same time. Much too hard.
I noticed that the sun was starting to set. I gazed in wonder how the sky turned from blue-gray to pink and orange, then slowly fading into the black night that was so familiar. Sunset was the most beautiful time of the day. Sometimes Twilight would trigger a few of the human memories I had left. Days when I spent the evening with Father and Mother, and just watch the sun go down into the horizon.
As the first star appeared, I got up, stretched and sighed. I should do my homework; there was a few day's worth sitting on the piano bench.
Before I went downstairs, I took a shower and got dressed.
I grabbed my books and entered the dining room. I was the only one who didn't use their room to do homework, and probably the only one to use the dining room at all. Well, except when we have serious family discussions.
Once I got about half-way through, Jasper came in with a look of anticipation.
"Alice says it's going to snow in about forty-five minutes. Would you like to join us?" He was talking about our snowball fights, our real snowball fights. Night time was the only time we got to use all our strengths to throw them at each other.
"Yeah sure, I'll catch up with you later."
As I finished up, I heard a booming laugh from Emmett.
No way, Jasper just knocked me down with snowballs. I can't let Edward know about this.
I muttered a "too late" and shook my head. Emmett can get so immature and competitive at times. No wonder why he and Rosalie are a perfect match.
My conscience told me to talk with Carlisle before I went outside. If I didn't, I would have probably forgotten to go.
I trudged up the stairs, looking for Carlisle. I glanced up at the cross when I walked down the hallway and sighed. If there was a God, then why was all of this happening to me?
I found Carlisle in his study reading some book or another.
"Carlisle?"
"Oh, yes Edward. Here, sit down." He said folding the corner of his book, ready to be opened once we were done.
"Look, Edward this isn't a lecture, and I'm not going to tell you what to. I just want to know where you're standing in all of this. I take it you're going to school today."
"Yes"
"And, you're not skipping biology, right?"
"I am not skipping biology today, tomorrow, or the rest of the week. After that, I'll see where I'm at." I stated in a matter of fact manner.
"Are you sure you can handle it, resisting her I mean? I know you just fed, and I do not doubt you, I just want to make sure you don't doubt yourself." Carlisle could tell what I was thinking. He's known me for much to long to notice I wasn't sure about all of this. All of the family probably have noticed, but must have hidden their thoughts.
"I don't know, I hope so. Before you ask me if I'm ready, I don't know. I don't think I'll ever be ready." He pursed his lips and looked at me with a mix of emotions- worry, concern, understanding, and faithfulness.
We talked for twenty minutes, all of the topics ranging from school, to Bella, and the family. The one thing that Carlisle said that stuck out the most was "Edward, whatever happened that day, it's changed you. You're different, but I can't tell if it's a bad thing or a good thing. Esme and I are a little concerned." I didn't say anything; I just let the silence fill the air.
OooxooO
As I walked through the back door, a snowball traveling at blinding speeds passed my face and hit Alice in the back, hard. She let out a high-pitched squeak with a jolt, turned around with an evil smile on her face and snowball in her hand ready for attack. Her eyes landed on Jasper who was completely surprised that he hit her off guard. She spun her arm in a circle and the ball catapulted towards him. When it hit him, they both started laughing at each others attempts. I joined them, and began attacking my victims.
No, Edward's here now. Crap! And I was winning too.
That rewarded Emmett a hit in the back of the head. I watched as the momentum of the snowball increased. It practically exploded when it reached him, and when he turned around, his face was twisted into fake rage.
Oh it's on now. Let the games begin. And that's how we spent the rest of the night. Just acting like kids.
We stayed outside until dawn spilled out of the horizon, letting everyone know that it's a new day. Esme came out to tell us to get ready for school making sure we weren't going to be late. As if that mattered.
We all piled up in the Volvo at around 6:50 and everyone's thoughts were centered around the snow. Emmett and Jasper were thinking about how to get the humans, males to specific. Also, they were planning on trying to get Rosalie and Alice wet during lunch, which I made sure I was included in. Alice wasn't thinking about much, just little random things that sometimes made no sense, Rosalie was the one that annoyed me to no ends.
At first she was thinking about punishing Emmett if he tries to ruin her hair. Then out of nowhere, she directed her thoughts to me.
I hope you're skipping today. I don't think you have enough self-control to live through it. I can see right through you Edward, if you mess up anything. . . .
My hands instinctively clutched the steering wheel. I was holding so tight that my knuckles were white and if I didn't calm down, I might break the wheel.
Did I hit a nerve? Sorry. Just tell me, what makes you think any of this is going to turn out good?
I quickly tuned her out, and breathed very deeply. Why can't she just help me or support me? She's already working on Emmett, trying to get him on her side. All she wants is to see me fall. She actually doesn't want me to be able to not kill Bella. To her, this is just an opportunity to be able to say I told you so. But, could she actually think I won't be able to do this? If so, then why not? Why couldn't she believe in me? And is this only Rosalie? Was everyone else thinking like her, and she was the only one not hiding her thoughts?
It bothered me deeply if my family didn't think I could do it. If they thought that I couldn't go without sucking her dry, resisting the blood that taunts me.
No! I have to stop thinking like this. All week long I have been avoiding thinking about her blood. It was a useless attempt, but I have been trying anything that could help. And so what if Rosalie didn't support me? It was just Rosalie. And I could prove her wrong in the end when absolutely nothing happens.
I swiftly pulled into a parking space. I put the car in park and let everyone get out before I did-I needed to think. Before Alice got out, she put her hand on my shoulder and said, "It's going to be fine, I promise."
"You saw something?" Why didn't she tell me?
"No." She said all too quickly. Don't smile, I can't give too much away. You're not going to get it out of me; you'll just have to wait and see. And with that, she kissed me on the cheek and left me in the car.I stayed in the car to take a break. School should start soon. I looked out the windshield and at the kids all over the campus. Everyone was in a snowball fight including the boys of my family. The only people who weren't were teachers, Alice and Rosalie, and her-Bella.
I hate snow. It's too wet and cold. This is nothing like on TV. I just wish that everyone would stop throwing them.
So she hates snow. She must be from somewhere dry and hot. I think I remember hearing she came from Phoenix, Arizona. That would explain it; it never rains there, from what I've heard.
Within ten minutes, the first bell of the day had rung, signaling that everyone was to go to their first period. As I made my way to calculus something cold and wet had hit me in the back at full force. I knew it had to be Emmett. My accusation was confirmed a second later when his laughter filled the air, making every human turn toward him and stare.
"Man, I got you so bad!" he was shaking by now, and holding his sides from falling over.
"It wasn't even that funny. I have to get to class. You watch out on your way to lunch today." I smiled to myself and turned to walk to class; but not before I heard him yell, "Will do."
OooxooO
The first half of the day could not go faster. Normally, the monotonous of the school made the days seem excruciatingly slow. But not today. It was all because I was dreading that one class. It seemed like minutes from calculus to lunch.
But, even with my dreading and thoughts about preparing for biology, exactly six minutes before the bell for lunch rang, the only thing on my mind was getting back at Emmett and Rosalie.
Once outside, I scanned everywhere for my two brothers. I finally found jasper getting ready to throw a snowball at a sophomore, but Jasper wasn't the one I was planning to get back at. I looked over and saw Bella and Mike walking into the cafeteria together. For reasons unknown, that bothered me. It didn't matter that Bella looked like Mike's side was the last place she wanted to be, or that she was carrying a binder to act as a shield.
All that mattered was what Mike was thinking.
God, she's so hot. It's funny how she hates the snow. Maybe I might be impressing her by how much people I keep hitting . . . .
But then I zeroed in on what she was thinking, and found out that it was the complete opposite of what Mike thought.
Why does Mike have to walk me everywhere? He seems to be the main target, and I wish I could just get away.
For some strange reason, it made me smile that Bella wasn't interested in Mike. Why? I do not know. I let the subject drop-It was insignificant. I finished what I came for, finding Emmett.
My eyes landed on him, and I instinctively grabbed a pile of snow, and molded it to the perfect size and shape. I was able to take my time because I had no body heat to melt it. He wasn't aware of me, he was planning on doing something to a few of the timid freshmen. That's when I made my move. I caught him totally off guard, and just started a whole new battle. We fought for about ten more minutes, and decided to go inside. I had to admit, I was a little smug. It wasn't that often when you get to put a dent in Emmett's ego, which I did extremely successfully.
Edward, Emmett and I came up with a plan. I'm going to make the girls feel really bored and calm and not alert at all. Then you and Emmett can get Rosalie, and I'll get Alice. Sound good?
I nodded, but it was so fast from excitement, that it to a human, it would have looked like my head was vibrating.
When we walked up to our table, Jasper sent a calm, serene feel to Alice and Rosalie. Right as Rosalie looked up, we dumped all the snow in our hair onto them.
The sudden wetness made Alice and Rosalie screech in the highest voices I had ever heard. But despite how mad they said they would get, our whole table started laughing at each other. Alice was trying to shake the snow out of her own spiky hair, but Rosalie jumped out of her seat and brushed the solid water off of her.
"Emmett, I can't believe you did that!" She said it really whiny, not mad at all.
"Sorry Rose, I couldn't resist." She rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Whatever."
"So Edward. . ." Emmett started casually. "What does Bella think of your arrival,? You know, cause she's staring at you and all." I turned to look at her, but she looked down at her tray the instant I even got to see her.
Crap! He saw me looking. He probably hates me even more now.
I never took my eyes off of her, even if the only thing I was looking at was that barrier of chocolate brown hair that hid her face. I willed her to look at me to see that I didn't hate her. At least, not anymore.
"Edward Cullen is staring at you." Jessica giggled.
Don't look. Don't look. "He doesn't look mad does he?"
I don't think I want to know. If he is, I really want to know what I did to him.
"No, Should he be?"
I don't know, the last time I saw him, he looked like I was causing him pain.
"I don't think he likes me very much." She whispered.
"The Cullen's don't like anybody, well, they don't notice people enough to like them. But he's still looking at you." Jessica explained.
"Stop looking at him!" She hissed. Jessica turned away, her attention averting to Mike.
Could this get any more embarrassing?
Finally, she looked up at me. She was, in fact, embarrassed because her face had a scarlet color spreading on her cheeks. I smiled to seem friendly, but she just turned more red and looked down.
Great, I guess since he wasn't glaring, I have to go to biology now. But why? Maybe it really wasn't my fault that he acted that way. I don't know, he's so confusing.
I chuckled and looked back at my family to answer their question. They all had really annoyed expressions that made me utterly confused.
"Edward, does it really take that long to find out what someone's thinking?" Rosalie blurted out. I didn't even realize I was listening that long.
"Sorry, I wanted to hear the all of the conversation. Well, she's confused about the whole thing. She thought I was mad at her, or did something to her, but now, she doesn't know what to think. But the thing I don't get, is that she was actually worried that she did something to me." The last part, I didn't even now I was thinking. It came from somewhere in my subconscious, but now as I said the words, it left me completely perplexed. Why would she care if I was mad or not? She didn't think about me the same way most people did.
After about ten minutes, she, Angela, and Mike got up to go to biology. I watched them go, wishing I could skip, but I can't. I told my whole family that I would go.
I waited until the last possible minute to leave the cafeteria, and walked slowly on the way to the building, barely noticing the loss of snow. I took a deep breath as I waited outside the door. The teacher was setting up microscopes, so I knew we would be working together.
When I walked down the aisle, I saw her doodling in her notebook. She was drawing the most random things, from the Sun, to little smiley faces. I pulled out my chair, deliberately making a lot of noise and sat down. But she determinedly looked stared at her notebook.
Oh dear God, her scent was so strong and maddening. She was so close, I could . . .No. I need a distraction.
"Hello." I said softly. She looked up, shock written across her face. She was completely gorgeous. But not in the supermodel way, with gobs of make-up, but in a natural way. Her brown eyes
What? He's talking to me now. What about last week?
Great, maybe if I act nice enough, I could make her forget.
"My name is Edward Cullen. We didn't have a chance to introduce ourselves the other day. That was my fault, I was sick and wasn't feeling too well. You must be Bella Swan."
How did he know to call me Bella? Everyone else called me Isabella until I corrected them.
"Ho-How did you now my name?" God that sounded stupid.
"Oh, well, every now and then, I would hear people talk about you, and they called you Bella."
"Oh, right." Well, I feel like an idiot. She blushed pink and looked away.
Great, I made her feel bad. I need to save myself.
"Don't feel bad-," I started, "I would have asked the same thing."
Did I imagine the whole thing. He's so nice now. Maybe he normally is, and he really was sick that other day. But he seemed fine before class the other day.
I was about to speak but Mr. Banner chose that exact moment to start class.
"Today, boys and girls, you are going to have to figure out the differences between the stages of mitosis. You have five different slides of onion root tip, all out of order. When you know which stage a certain slide is, write it down on the worksheet. You are to work together and are not to use your textbooks. Begin." I have done this exercise so many times, I could be done in less than a minute. But we had to work together, and I don't think she would like it very much if I went ahead and finished it by myself.
"Ladies first?" I asked and forced a smile.
Whoa, his smile is so crooked and beautiful.
That made me smile for real, and I let out a soft chuckle. She blushed again, intensifying her scent. It was so overwhelming, I had to ball my hands into fists.
Am I ever going to not look so idiotic around him?
"Yeah I'll go first." Yes, this is my chance to redeem myself. I had already done this in Phoenix. I'll only show-off a little bit, just so I look like a can actually do something.
I watched as she adjusted the lenses and placed the slide underneath the microscope. I had an excuse now to really look at her. She was pale, almost as pale as me, but it suited her well. Her long, dark hair framed her heart-shaped face perfectly, and contrasted against her skin. It seemed that her blush never fully went away, because even as she relaxed, her cheeks still had a pink twinge to it. Her eyes were the most beautiful though, they were full of emotions, and were depthless. I would stare at her all day if I could.
"Prophase." She said looking at me. Yes, Bella Swan was definitely the most beautiful person I had ever seen. She looked back at the microscope to remove the slide.
"Do you mind if I look?" I unconsciously grabbed her hand, to stop her from removing the slide. Her heat pulled me onto my own warm world. Everything had always either felt cold or neutral, but not this, not her body heat. I would give anything to not let go, but she jerked her hand back. At first, I thought it was because my own unnaturally cold skin, but she proved me wrong.
What was that? When he touched me, it felt like an electric shock just went through us.
I muttered, "Sorry" as an attempt to pretend that nothing had happened when our hands touched. She stared at her hands in confusion as I checked the slide.
She was right. The slide was prophase, and she didn't even look at it that long.
"Prophase" I said, echoing her, then writing the answer on the worksheet. I put the second one in, and declared it anaphase.
"May I?" She asked as I wrote it down.
If he gets to question me, I should get to question him.
I smirked at her thought. It seemed so childish, almost something Emmett would say.
"Go ahead." I answered. She looked through the eye piece for a few seconds before looking away.
Dammit. He's right.
"Slide three." She said with a huff, and held out her right hand, and stared at nothing. I grabbed the slide, and considered "accidentally" touching her for two reasons. One, so I could get a glimpse at the heat again. And two, I wanted to see if she would get shocked again. I opted not to, because of the chance I might not want to let go of her hand. I dropped it carefully, avoiding all chances of contact.
This time, she took an even shorter time looking at the slide, trying to beat my speed.
"Interphase" she said, pushing the microscope in my direction so I could check it.
This time, I didn't even look at it as I pretended to check it. I didn't doubt her, she was more intelligent than most of the people in here.
When I looked at my slide, I didn't miss her rather amusing thought.
I better not. His penmanship is so much better than my chicken scratch.
I chuckled, and instantly regretted it.
"What's so funny?" She asked.
"Nothing."
"Oh." She dropped the subject awkwardly.
By the time we finished, we had a little less than fifteen minutes left until Mr. Banner checked everyone's work. She looked around the room and then looked at me.
Hmm. . there's something different about his eyes.
I looked down at my hands, before she could bring it up, but it was useless.
"Did you get contacts?"
"No." I said still not looking at her.
"Oh. I thought there was something different about your eyes." She said more to herself then me.
There is something different. Last week, his eyes were pitch black,-an image of me appeared in her mind, except I looked completely evil and was glaring at her- and now, they're like a beautiful topaz color.
I was about to say something, to make her forget about the change in color, but then Mr. Banner came over to see why we weren't working. He's starting to get an annoying habit of interrupting me.
"Edward, don't you think Isabella should have done some of the work?" He asked. How could he just assume that?
" Actually, Bella did most of the slides." The aggravation was clear in my voice.
He ignored my tone and turned to Bella. "Have you done this before?"
"Yeah-" she admitted. She completely surprised me. I had expected her to lie, and say she was just smart. I didn't expect her to be so honest. "But not with onion root." She explained.
"Whitefish Blastula?"
She nodded, and then confirmed that she had been advanced placement program before she came here.
"Good thing you two are partners. Both of them probably aren't even learning anything." The last part was underneath his breath and most likely wasn't meant to be heard.
She went back to her notebook cover and brought her hair over her shoulder, blocking me from seeing her face. As she moved, her scent became extremely strong and I needed something to make me forget about her blood.
"Too bad about the snow, huh?"
He sounds like he's trying to force small talk, almost like he heard our conversation during lunch and prove us wrong.
"Not really."
I stared at her, simply amazed. How was she that observant? I can't let Rosalie know. Who knows what she would do if she found out the little things Bella noticed. Then I remembered that she answered me and what she said.
"You don't like the cold."
"Or the wet." She put her pen down and looked at me, her hair finally out of the way.
"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live." I replied.
"You have no idea." She said, her voice filled with sadness.
Actually I hate it.
"Why did you come here?"
No one ever asked me that before, or at least not as straight forward.
"It's. . . complicated." She hedged.
No one would ever really understand why.
Now I really wanted to know. I wanted to be able to understand, to understand her. " I think I can keep up."
She paused, at first she was deciding whether or not she would tell me. I prayed that she would tell me, and was overjoyed when she decided to. Then, she started to rearrange her thoughts, but they were going through her mind so quickly that I couldn't quite catch it.
"My mother got remarried." She said. There was more to it, I knew that from how fast her mind was traveling. "That doesn't seem be all of it though." I encouraged her to continue. She shook her head in agreement.
"When did they get married?"
"Last September." She replied. That even sounded sad to me.
"And you don't like him." I guessed.
"No, Phil's fine, a little too young, but he's nice." She said.
"Then why did you move?" I didn't understand. Maybe it was complicated.
Why is he so interested in my boring life? His is most likely more exciting. " Phil travels a lot. He plays base ball for a living." She explained.
Now this was a subject I knew about. Just because I was a vampire, didn't mean I couldn't know about sports.
"Have I heard of him?"
Yeah right. "No, he doesn't play well. Strictly minor league. He moves around a lot." I thought I understood, but her thoughts started slowing down, and become coherent, and then she proved me wrong without speaking.
And poor Renee had to stay in Phoenix with me, while her own husband traveled, just because I was home alone. I felt so guilty, making her stay and miss him, so I wouldn't be lonely.
Wait, did that mean she moved her on her own because she felt guilty about her mom? That was the most kind, and unselfish thing I had ever heard.
"Did your mom send you here, or did you send yourself?"
"H-How did you know I sent myself?" Is he some kind of mind reader?
Crap! I had let my frustration make me forget that she didn't actually say that.
"I can read people well. I saw it in your eyes that you felt guilty about something. I figured either your mom sent you because she traveled with Phil, or she stayed with you whenever he left. And then I saw the guilt in your eyes, and I assumed it was the latter." I hoped to God that she would believe me. It was the best excuse I could come up with.
"Oh." She said, still not convinced.
"Well, why don't you finish explaining it to me. I'm still a little confused." I said, trying to get her mind off of that subject.
She sighed and started her story, "You were right, when Phil traveled, my mom stayed with me. I could tell that she missed Phil too much when he was gone, that I did feel guilty. She was unhappy, so I decided I needed to move in with Charlie so she could be with Phil." She sounded so sad. I couldn't believe she felt it was her obligation to make her mom happy, when she felt so much distaste for Forks.
"Yeah, but now you're unhappy."
"So?" she challenged.
"That doesn't seem fair. You obviously don't like it at all here." She laughed, but it had coldness in it, not at me, at what I said.
"Haven't you ever heard? Life isn't fair."
"Yes, I believe I have heard that before." I replied. I knew that all to well.
I don't understand how he could just get me to confess all of that. I had never told anybody that in my entire life, and now, someone I had just met is having me spill me secret. How did he do that?
Did she really just think that? Am I really the only person she's told this to?
"So that's it." She said, acting as if the whole conversation had meant nothing. Why is he still looking at me like that?
I chose my next words carefully. "You put on a good show, but I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."
Annoyance flashed through her eyes. I'm not going to stick my tongue out. I'm not. It's just so unfair that he can read me this easily.
"Am I wrong?"
No.
"I didn't think so." I said softly.
"Why does it matter to you?" She asked.
"I don't know." I whispered as I looked at my hands. She looked away, and I stared right back at her. "Am I annoying you."
I wish he didn't sound so amused.
"No, I'm more annoyed with myself. I'm so easy to read- my mother calls me her open book. And you seem to be able to read me better than she did."
"Yeah, sorry I have to agree with you on that one-You are easy to read, but I can read people well usually anyway."
"Oh." She muttered. Glad to know I'm with a professional.
I was about to respond, but again, Mr. Banner called the class to order, to continue with class. Neither of us paid attention at all. The only thing that she thought about was why she actually explained her life to me, as she was doing before. She didn't understand why she had trusted me, and frankly, neither did I. She shouldn't trust me, I could kill her right now, which I was having a little difficulty doing, but for come reason, I was happy she trusted me. I couldn't fathom why I was glad she trusted me, just like she couldn't figure why she trusted me at all.
Not to long later, the bell rang. I stayed in my seat for a little while, letting her leave first. I had to think for a few seconds.
It took my a while to realize a had a class to go to, but the only thing I could think of was how completely and absolutely amazing and beautiful Isabella Swan was.
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Yay! There you have it, Chapter 2. When you review I need to know if I should start doing chapters with Bella's Pov, starting with this one. I'll still do Edward's though. And I really want to know how you thought about this chapter
REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!
As always,
Rachel